Industrial Evolution

Nachtmystium's new album, Silencing Machine (out July 31 on Century Media), is the proper followup to 2008's (great) Pink Floyd-inspired Assassins: Black Meddle, Part I and 2010's less successful Addicts: Black Meddle, Part II, an ambitious record that blended a dark industrial vibe and slower rock'n'roll pace with the Chicago group's take on black metal. The latter had more than its share of skeptics and detractors (I enjoyed it, despite a few admittedly cringe-worthy moments). It's understandable, then, that when the new non-album track "As Made" surfaced and sounded more like Ministry than Mayhem, people got riled up again. Well, it turns out the song's a red herring, and Silencing Machine is, in fact, closer to the excellent Instinct: Decay, released on founding member Blake Judd's Batttle Kommand label in 2006, than what Nachtmystium created after signing to a bigger label.

I recently got on the phone with Judd to speak about Silencing Machine, sobriety, Nine Inch Nails, bringing back his black metal super group, and making black metal with Thurston Moore. We also have the first listen to Silencing Machine's title track, above.

Pitchfork: You did a studio update in the last issue of Decibel and mentioned Silencing Machine was a back-to-basics black metal album. I've been listening to it for a month, and there's more to it than that. Was there something that shifted? Or did you mean it was more "based" in black metal?

Blake Judd: Right, it's based more in black metal. I was referencing the foundation of the songs. When I did that interview, we were only a third or two-thirds through the record, so all the gravy hadn't been put on yet. I do think it came out a little bit more than just a black metal record. I don't think it's quite as daring and weird as Assassins and Addicts were, but it wasn't supposed to be. We tried to hold back. I wanted to get the attention of our audience by having really great songs instead of busting out saxophone solos, or whatever. I wanted to take a less drastic approach. I didn't want to try to outweird ourselves, it would've felt desperate and forced.

Pitchfork: It sounds like the follow-up toInstinct: Decay.

BJ: That's exactly how I've been describing it to people.

__Pitchfork: Instinct came out in 2006, then you did the more experimental Meddle records in 2008 and 2010. Were they something you needed to get out before you could return to the earlier sound?
__

BJ: In a way, yeah. But thinking back to when we signed to Century Media and decided to do those metal records, I wanted to do two really weird records and then go back to what we've been doing. This was in 2007 and it just so happened that my thought process stayed with me for many years. I missed the live energy of the more agressive stuff. The last two records weren't really that aggressive and they were definitely a step away from that raw black metal foundation we started with.

I wanted to bring it back for some personal reasons: I like it live a lot and I think it has some great energy. And I really didn't know where to go next with that whole adventuring process we did on those last two records. It's just not what we wanted to do for this record; we wanted to capture what we sound like live in the studio. On this record, there's never more going on in a song than we're capable of recreating live, which is a really big thing for us, because there's so much on those last two records that we can't play without having a number of extra musicians onstage at any given time.

Overall, my interest in metal has come back, now that I've been away from Battle Kommand and working in record stores for a number of years. I've finally been able to get back into metal as a fan. I got really burned out on it. But now I pay more attention to the bands I like from the genre and I found some new stuff. We're also touring with a lot of metal bands and I've seen some really cool stuff. I think that's rubbed off on us as well.

Pitchfork: Since we last spoke a few years ago, there's been a lot happening to black metal. Its profile has gotten bigger and weirder; there are more things that crossover, and more people doing strange stuff. Was this at all a reason for going "back to basics"? There are so many people tweaking black metal in 2012, so why not write good songs instead of adding another bell or whistle?

BJ: Exactly. With black metal especially, so much of this noodling is done tongue-in-cheek. Like, "Oh, let's see how weird we can make black metal, let's fuck with it." I know a lot of people that are into this music that aren't metalheads. I have a good sense of humor about it as well; I think we all do at this point. There are people that take it way too seriously, and that opens the floodgates for creative people to kind of fuck with them. That's why I love the genre as well. To not be part of furthering that kind of mentality, I wanted to remind people this is where we come from, this is what we're into, and we can still do it. I think that was another thing-- I wanted to see if we can still play this type of music and still be effective at it. I feel that we are; I actually really like the record. I like it better than the last one, that's for sure. It feels a little more honest and not so forced.

Pitchfork: It sounds very Chicago to me. There is an industrial vibe to it along with the return to black metal. I know you collaborated with onetimeMinistry memberChris Connelly on something, right?

BJ: Yeah, he did a cover of Joy Division's "The Eternal" with us. He sang on it. That's on the "As Made" 7" that came out as a precursor to the record.

Pitchfork: How did that come together?

BJ: [Producer/musician] Sanford [Parker] recorded Chris' solo record not too long ago-- the one that Relapse put out. They've become very close friends. Conveniently, the studio that Sanford works out of where we were recording is located about two blocks from the record store that Chris manages. So when we were in the studio working on it, we knew in a day or two we'd have all the songs wrapped up. We were looking at each other and wondering who was going to be Ian Curtis on the song. And I was like, "I can't sing to save my life," and no one else could either. Sanford's like, "I'm gonna call Chris, he should be in on this."

The A-side, "As Made," was very much our hail to Ministry; that was not intended to showcase anything about where we're going, it was purely us trying to sound like an old Chicago industrial band. We figured a 7" inch was a good place to do that. To have Chris, who was involved in Ministry and Revolting Cocks, involved in that 7" was really special for us.

Pitchfork: That said, there seems to nods to Wax Trax and that whole scene across the record, too.

BJ: Oh, absolutely. I grew up with that kind of music, and we've all gotten way more into it. It seems like there's been a resurgence of interest in that whole area in general, at least in Chicago. They have Wax Trax sections in Reckless Records, they're pointing it out to people. I felt like that stuff was forgotten about over the last decade or so, so it's cool people seem interested again.

Pitchfork: Something related to that industrial thing is the album title. Is Silencing Machine a Nine Inch Nails reference?

BJ: Yes, it's a reference to a Nine Inch Nails lyric. [laughs] I wouldn't say it's a reference to them as a means of trying to say, "We like Nine Inch Nails," but I've always been into The Downward Spiral. It's one of those records that has never aged for me. It sounds like it could have been recorded last year. I always liked the lyrics and I thought that line was a particularly sinister one. It was ringing out in my head, and with the industrial influence in the music, I thought it was a perfect title to this record. It wasn't intentional to spoof on Nine Inch Nails, but it just conveniently worked out.

__Pitchfork: Despite focusing on addicton, some parts of the last records were a little more anthemic or danceable or even upbeat. But, between the lyrics and song titles like "The Lepers of Destitution", "Decimation, Annihilation", and "I Wait in Hell", this one seems more downcast overall.
__

BJ: Absolutely. It deals with a lot more negative subject matter than the last couple records. Also, this is the first album that Chris Black has not produced for us since Demise. That was a choice we made as a band with him. We just felt like we've done a lot and it's time now to see what we're capable of without his presence. He stepped up with Assassins and Addicts and got really involved with writing lyrics with me. This time around, I decided I wanted to do it all myself. It still seems like no matter what we do he's always involved in one way or another, and that's fine, but I wrote the lyrics for eight of the 10 songs, or co-wrote them with the other guitarist. That was really fun; I hadn't done that since Instinct. The way I write lyrics and choose to place them in songs is a little different than how Chris does it. I think that could be part of what you're hearing in that Instinct: Decay sound. That was the last record that I wrote all the lyrics for. I tend to write more lyrics than Chris does, so there's just more vocals in general and more being said.

Pitchfork: What are some of overarching themes?

BJ: Nothing too specific. It's like most of our records, to be honest. It deals with personal stuff. We've already been around the drug thing. The guys in the band and I have been pretty chilled out for a long time now; everyone's older. So there's not really that struggle there anymore. It's more just about our lives. There's a little bit of a black metal theme that happens throughout the record where we've got some songs that attack religion. Not in a cheesy, satanic kind of way, but more of an educated, what's-going-on-in-the-word today way.

One thing that I and a couple of the other guys in the band struggle with are these intense highs and lows in our lives. When we tour, it's "go, go, go" for two months. Then you come home and it stops instantly. That's a weird thing, especially if you don't have regular work at home, which a lot of us don't-- we just do this band for a living. So we get back and life just kind of suddenly stops. It creates a weird situation where you're living on a series of highs and lows. It's stressful in a lot of ways-- the uncertainty in your future. All that stuff's been really prevalent to us as we're getting older. We're starting to hit the 30 marker; we're starting to get married; we're having kids. There's some chaos that needs to be worked out in all of our lives in order to be functioning adults, and I think a lot of the lyrics deal with that struggle.

Pitchfork: You just got married not too long ago, right?

BJ: Yeah, I got married last June. I'm loving that. That's changed my life a lot. That's been a big aid in helping clean up and stop being such a party animal. My wife and I are talking about having kids in a couple years, so I figure I got a couple more years of doing this. I'm slowly getting more used to having a mellow life at home. I want to be completely healthy when I make the decision to have kids.

And I do want to see where this band goes. We've been at this teetering point for years where we can do a little more than a lot of bands in our genre do and have some opportunities put in front of us that don't come easily to most black metal bands. So this album might be the last album where I'm like, "OK, I'm gonna really go for this, go on tour as much as I can, and see what happens." I don't really have a set goal for this. It's not like I'm out to become Mastodon or something, because what I've been told is they're a band who have to be together constantly and they don't get a long that well anymore-- from what I hear, it's very much their job and they aren't happy being out on tour because it's so much.

It's been nice to have a band and people I'm close to that I can get that understanding from and help me realize what I want to do in my life as a musician. Because my priorities now a a musician are so different now than they were as a kid. Everyone wants to be a rock star, and I wanted that too; I wanted to be on magazines and be running around the world and having all the fun. As I get older, I'm kind of glad we're not some huge celebrity-level band, because I don't think I could deal with it.

Pitchfork: You've had a stable lineup for a couple years and it's kind of been the first time that's happened. How did it effect recording?

BJ: Everything about it was easier, I'll tell you that much-- just knowing how the people play when you're playing with them. Until now, we were the kings of hiring session people. This current lineup has played over 300 shows together over the last two and a half years. We've played more as a group than all the other lineups we've had combined. It's really cool because it feels like a new band almost. We've only been at this for three years, even though the name has been around for 13 now; it's been this core group of people since very early 2010. We haven't had any rifts; everybody's on board, everyone gets along, we respect each other. The writing is not as one-sided as it had been in the past.

I would bring a lot of session people in and therefore I would kind of feel the need to be the dominant writer just because I had people very much outside of the band that hadn't been part of it for many years. So to have made a couple pretty successful records with Sanford and to be able to enjoy the excitement of all that's come with him has helped make us really enthusiastic about working with each other. The other guys in the picture are all accomplished musicians who played with various bands over the years and worked their asses off. It's nice for them to step into a band that's busier than what they've been doing and to feel they're getting some payback for all their hard work over the years. It's just a really good situation and everyone's really enthusiastic about it.

Like, I've never been able to say I stood on a stage and made eye contact with four other people I was playing with and felt we were all on the same page. Everybody gets it. Everybody's part of the creative process. When we're playing the newer material live, there's a certain spirit to it that's really cool. I never really felt that before.

__Pitchfork: It seems like some of the controversies surrounding the band-- like when Scion dropped you from their festival for your earlier connections to a National Socialist record label-- are far enough in the past that people can focus on the music.
__

BJ: Absolutely. We actually just had a major success, if you will. We went to Europe and played nine shows in Germany, and we did not have a single issue. That's the first time that's ever happened. So I think that as far as the whole white power accusations and all that shit, if you can play nine shows in Germany that were as well-promoted as ours were, you're off the hook. So that's good. Not having all this silly extracurricular crap, I know I was responsible for a good chunk of it when I was younger, but things have happened to this band that were not particularly our fault. It's frustrating, because at the time when we were making these records that were supposedly new, fresh, and groundbreaking to peoples' ears, you're also distracted by these things going on that have nothing to do with the music. I don't want us to be some band that's known for our actions and not our music.

With growing up and calming down, we're not as ridiculous as we were when we were younger. [laughs] The previous lineups didn't help that situation much, either. We had some people with really serious drinking and drug issues in the band for a long time. We're like the tamest band ever these days compared to what we used to be. We're all in our bunks by two in the morning. Like, for that whole tour in Europe, I don't think I saw any drugs aside from pot. There's not a lot of drinking. Therefore, we're playing and functioning better. When you're not putting a bunch of chemicals into everbody, people tend not to fly off the handle. Everything about this current lineup is much better and it's healthy for the band.

Pitchfork: How did you decide to stop doing your label, Battle Kommand?

BJ: The band was busy. I was touring so much my quality of service went completely down the tubes and I knew it. The last thing I wanted to do was unintentionally rip people off or making people wait a really long time for the records they ordered from me. That doesn't help the band. And it's also not cool. So there was that angle of it, and as I mentioned a little earlier, I got really tired of metal music. How do you pick what's good to sell when you're not totally into what you're listening to and marketing?

The band has always been such a huge part of my life and it kept me very busy. That, in combination with something like running a record label, just means my whole life revolves completely around metal music and I can't do that anymore. I need some separation. You can have the coolest job in the world, but it only seems cool until you get sick of it. So I'm much happier that I'm not doing that. I like just having that separation between my music life and my personal life.

BJ: No, actually we just signed with Century Media; we're doing a new record. Century is actually going to re-release the first album with some bonus material. We have some demos of songs from that record that actually sound better than the album does. We're gonna throw those on there. They're gonna reissue that. And we're going to go into the studio in August, assuming that [Leviathan's] Jef Whitehead isn't in prison. We're keeping our fingers crossed there. That whole trial is going on now. Actually, I'm testifying on his behalf on May 23. Then there's one more guy who has to testify in early June. The defense will be done with their witnesses and that's when the judge is going to make his call. It's a bench trial instead of a jury trial. That could go two ways-- either this guy is going to run him off or not. But there's enough evidence that suggests... I mean, his lawyer is like, "If this guy goes to prison for this, it'll be the biggest travesty of my career as a defense attorney." So we're going to just go on this notion that he's going to free and clear, and we're planning to record the new Twilight album in August.

Pitchfork: It's the same lineup as the last record?

BJ: Pretty much. I know [the Atlas Moth's] Stavros [Giannopoulos] and Sanford will be involved and there's talk of Thurston Moore being involved. He was really interested in doing it an he's a big black metal fan. Sanford knows him because his old studio was run with a guy named Jeremy Lemos who was Sonic Youth's sound man for a long time, so that's our connection to them. Sanford had spoken to him when we were doing the last album about maybe getting involved. Timing wasn't right then, but he said he was super interested in doing something down the line. So if we add anybody else, that's who it will be.

BJ: I'm not sure if Aaron will be involved or not. I haven't talked to him much in the last year or two. I know he's out in Olympia or wherever he is doing his thing, but we'll definitely ask him if he'd like to be involved. We'll see how it goes. At this point in time we're just worried about getting the core music done between [Krieg's] Neill [Jameson], Jef, myself, and Sanford. The four of us and myself pretty much wrote the bulk of the last record, and then the other people did their thing on top of what was already there. We'll probably go a similar path with the next one.

w/ Krieg and Murmur

$ w/ Krieg, Murmer, and Drug Honkey

Portland doom/deathrock quartet Atriarch's 2011 debut, Forever the End, mixed funereal doom and blackened eruptions, and it made it to no. 25 on my Show No Mercy Year-End List. More recently, the group put out a split with Oakland deathrockers Alaric via 20 Buck Spin. I spoke with vocalist Lenny Smith about that collection and their new LP, out this fall on Profound Lore.

Embed is unavailable.

Pitchfork: You guys describe your music in terms of ritual.

Lenny Smith: Our music is sacred to us; it's our catharsis. Our aim is that our audience finds catharsis as well, so we perform a type of group cleansing through our live performances and on an individual level through our recordings; turning negative feelings into something positive and constructive. Giving dark souls something to relate to and find comfort in.

Pitchfork: The group subscribes to a DIY punk politics. How important is anarchism to the band?

LS: On the whole, anarchism is not a main focus to the band. However, I am an anarchist myself. We don't all subscribe to any set agenda, and as a true anarchist I don't believe in forcing my ideals on anyone, nor do I feel anything has to be a certain way. Chaos is in the roots of anarchy, but tolerance, understanding, and love need to be practiced in order for it to work. As soon as we start telling others how to think, we create "the prison of thought" and this is not true anarchy. I do believe that the anarchist movement has positive attributes but, as a whole, the mainstream anarchist agenda practices intolerance on many levels and gives strength to this prison that we need to destroy through understanding and compassion for both our friends and enemies. I feel that the underground has become far too segregated. We in black could change the world if we opened our hearts and minds to each other.

Pichfork: Can you discuss the "esoteric spirituality" that interests you? Are there rituals you practice in your daily life?

LS: Spirituality and ritual have a negative stereotype. It doesn't have to be about god or organized religion. It's about recognizing the connection between all things, understanding that we are all a part of each other. It is completely esoteric and doesn't need to be about any set views. We are all one. From the earth below to the clouds above, the air we breathe, the water we drink-- these things connect us. Rituals can be performed in the minutia of our everyday lives. They are the repetitive tasks that we find comfort in, from how we start our days to how we end them. If we could only accept these behaviors as ritual and focus them on not only making our own lives better but on improving the world around us and finding a center within. My personal spirituality and rituals are exactly that: personal.

Pitchfork: Your sound isn't something you can pin to a specific genre. How'd you arrive at what you're doing?

LS: That was the idea we had before we even played and it's very important to us. Creating something new is the point. Max and I often talked about incorporating deeper ideals and spirituality, as well as goth, industrial, and deathrock, and influence from bands like the Birthday Party and Swans into metal; blackened doom, to be specific. We played with Nick for several months and came to the obvious decision to ask Brooks to play with us. A good friend and visionary/artist also interested in to the darker, more creative side, who shares similar values. This is how we forged our sound. With all four elements, the four of us became one sound outside ourselves, and unique to itself.

Pitchfork: Recently there's been a larger focus on crust bands of various types. Have you noticed this? Any theories regarding why it's happening?

LS: Of course I have noticed. I can't say why, but I will say that this is a trend and, like any other trend, it will pass. The good thing about this is that more people than ever before are being exposed to these ideals and music, and there are too many amazing bands right now to fully adsorb. The negative thing is that this is a trend and a fashion-- and we can't trust someone just because we're into the same things anymore. These things can be easily researched online now. Anyone can know the right bands and have the right style; the same asshole personality types who made me feel like an outcast as a punk kid are now dawning the crust aesthetic. This isn't all bad. If they take any part of the ideals with them when they jump on the next trend that comes along, the world will be better for it. But as a grown man who was there in the early 90s witnessing the growth of this scene, I feel that it's more about the fashion these days and not as much about a connection to like minds (although that is obviously not dead).

Pitchfork: It took quite some time for your to release your first LP. Were you waiting for the right label?

LS: Not really. We put out the CD ourselves and couldn't afford to self-release the vinyl. We do have our own sound and this can be a risky move from a labels standpoint. It seems like people want to be able to put their finger on things and put them in boxes/genres/labels. This is comfortable and bands that put out derivative, easy-to-pin-down, familiar music will always have a place. New and original things make people uncomfortable. So we were really waiting for someone who would take a chance on us.

Pitchfork: How did the recent split with Alaric come about?

LS: Alaric are our close friends and we also love their music. We played our first show in the Bay with them. Nick and Russ go way back with the Noothgrush Carol Ann split as well. It just seemed natural.

Embed is unavailable.

Pitchfork: One of your songs on the split-- "Oblivion"-- has a more deathrock vibe than Forever the End, and "Offerings" is more rabidly punk. What can we expect from your second LP? Do you have a release date for it? How'd you link up with Profound Lore? Any plans for a tour?

LS: The second record varies. There is a song that's similar to "Oblivion" with the more deathrock punk vibe, yet its more blackened. There are also parts reminiscent of Offerings and Forever the End, but we have brought something new to this next release as well, in continuation of our sonic evolution. Chris from Profound Lore contacted us. We have played with and are friends of several of his artists: YOB, Ludicra, Agaloch, Worm Ouroboros. Profound Lore has been awesome to work with and we will be heading east this fall to coincide with the release.

Pitchfork: It seems like good things are happening in Portland right now, a city that's more often associated with indie rock (and "Portlandia"). Any thoughts on the city's heavier groups in 2012?

LS: Stoneburner just put out a CD on Seventh Rule and it is badass. Brutal, uncompromising, dark, heavy, noisy, and original. Ephemeros is also a band to watch out for. No releases yet but they are serious craftsmen--one of the best doom bands I've heard in some time, taking funeral doom into the realm of something more brutal and angry. Elitist is a thick crusty wall of sick hateful noise. Fucking awesome! Taurus is strange and out of this world and is sure to make you completely uncomfortable… those are just the ones off the top of my head that stand out. Obviously there's too many to mention. And fuck "Portlandia".

Swedish classic cult-metal band In Solitude's debut The World.The Flesh.The Devil, out via Metal Blade, landed at No. 9 on my 2011 year-end list. Here's the bloody, ritualistic Johan Baath-directed video for one of the many standout tracks, "To Her Darkness".